Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how her Department incorporates discard estimates into the setting of total allowable catches in the fishing industry.

Total Allowable Catches (TACs) are set through a process bringing together science, economics, stakeholder input, and discards information. For most TACs, scientific bodies, e.g. the International Committee for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), provide scientific advice on how much fish can be harvested (catch advice) to achieve agreed sustainability objectives. Where data availability allows, ICES assessments of fish stocks incorporate discarding estimates into the catch advice, and where this occurs, the allocated TACs represent all components of the catch, including discards.

Under the Landing Obligation, legal discarding is permitted for specific stocks under defined circumstances. For these, the UK applies deductions from its TACs prior to their allocation, using estimates of discarding levels to account for expected legal discards. Defra is reforming discards management in England, which includes developing an approach to account for total catches, discards as well as landings, against quota.